I open the text right away.

< Hey, I hope I'm not bothering you while you're working, but I wanted to know when your day ends? ]

I take a few seconds to answer so that he does not feel like I am waiting for a text from him all day long. My heart is beating so fast at the thought of his behavior last night.

[ Hey, you're not bothering at all. I'll be done at 4 pm, why? >

< I'll have to go grocery shopping after work, so I wanted to know if you'll be with us ]

[ us? >

< Your mom already knows about it so she'll be there and Joonha too ]

[ Oh okay, I'll be there too >

< Great, see you later then. And eat please ]

[ But what if I'm not hungry? >

< You always get hungry at some point, and even if you're not, Mister Jeon told you to eat, so you have to do it. On top of that I cooked that food for you so I'd be hurt if I ever get to know you wasted it ]

[ Oh alright. If Mister Jeon says, y/n does. >

< Exactly😌 but seriously, take care of yourself, I mean it ]

[ I will♡ >

Loving how good my day is starting, I pray for it to keep going the same way.

•••

12:20 pm.

< what are you gonna eat for lunch? ]

[ why are you and your dad so focused on making me eat? >

< we care about your health dumbass. Wtf is that question? ]

[ a dumb question >

< do you have a break rn? ]

[ yes, why? >

< let's FaceTime ]

No time to even answer, he calls me, so I check my face and fix my hair to pick up. I can now see him, but he is outside, walking. "Hey," he smiles at me, the sun shining on his lightly tanned skin. "Hey, where are you?"

"I'm coming back from a fast food restaurant," he holds a sandwich up to show it to me. "What about the food your dad cooked for you?" I mention what I have been reminded of, and he scoffs. "I ate everything already. I'm starving so bad today, I feel pregnant."

"I'm hungry for everything before my period, so no need to be pregnant to feel like that," I open look up at his fluffy hair that is bouncing because of his fast steps, and he sets his blue eyes on the screen to look at me. "Oh, then maybe I'm on my period."

"Who's the dad if you're pregnant though?" I chuckle at his stupidity, but he sits down on a bench, where no sun is shining on his skin. "Girl. I'm Mary. God impregnated me without putting it in. It's a miracle."

"Oh, it sounds like a joke," I perceive some mockery, and he sneers, confirming my thoughts. "The only god I believe in is me. I am above everyone," he raises his eyebrows, being the usual him that I know. I laugh but do not say anything about this arrogance I am used to dealing with. "What you don't believe me?"

"I only believe in your dad, sorry," I bring his father again, and he sighs while opening his food. "I'm gonna have to keep a close eye on you," he looks at me, smiling but not seeming annoyed by my behavior. "But like, seriously, you have a crush on him. Don't you?" he asks, with earnestness this time, and causes me to be nervous. I shake my head to not tell the truth, and he bites into the sandwich he bought. "You're lying."

"I'm not," I do the opposite of what I claim, and he sets his eyes on me again, my heart racing. "Let me tell you a story," he chews on his food to swallow, and I gulp down, fearing the words he is about to say. "The story of a hot man who once woke up in the middle of the night because of an urge to pee. So, what did he do?" he takes another bite, the beginning already giving me the end of the story I do not want to hear. "He got out to get in his bathroom, but guess what? He heard some noise downstairs, so being the curious man he is, he walked towards the stairs to check what was going on, but that's when he noticed  a very familiar man at the bottom of them, right in front of his worst enemy's bedroom."

I am dying. I am literally melting and burning my chair with the embarrassment I am feeling.

Knowing he got me, he licks his lips and stares at me with confidence. "You know this story, don't you?"

"I don't..." I feign ignorance. I have nothing to lose at this point. I am already in my grave. "Of course. You were not the one flirting with my dad, uh? That was another girl."

"I'd kill that girl..." I mumble and glance away out of shame but hear him scoff. "Gosh. You're so fucking obvious."

"I wasn't flirting with him, alright?" I clarify so that he does not hate me for the things he heard and saw, but he enjoys his food and looks at me with incredulity. "I can tell when a girl flirts. Even the tone of your voice was so fucking different from usual," he makes fun of me, but I do not even mind it, I actually feel some relief. He does seem to be serious about it, but the fact that he does not hate me or tell me to leave his dad alone is such a relief. I am glad to see that he does not seem against it.

"Why are you so silent now? Hm?" he smiles at me, and the shyness I hate to struggle with fills me up. "I'm not trying to save myself."

"It's worthless, I won't believe you anyway," he brings a can up to his mouth to drink, and I get my bottle to do the same. "Where's your food? I'm not ending the call until I saw you eat," he does not forget about it, but since I am starving, I grab my food out of my bag and put it on the table. "I'm not gonna eat while you're watching me."

"We always eat together, the fuck you mean?" he has a point that I cannot deny. "Yes, but it's not the same."

"It's the same, so eat, and don't try to pretend. I want to see you put it in your mouth and swallow," his dirty mind does not leave me alone today, and I chuckle. "Do you want me to open my mouth and show you my tongue while we're at it?"

"Yeah, and a small camera in your stomach would be great too so that I know what you did and didn't eat," he goes even further in his ideas. "You're crazy."

"I know," he does not even contradict me, acknowledging the truth. "Are you excited about going out with your mom after work?" he mentions what I have been thinking about since earlier, and I take a spoon of the food Mister Jeon cooked for me but taste some bitterness. "Yeah...so excited. I'm gonna have to deal with her rubbing her ass over him again. So impatient to see it."

"This wouldn't happen if you were clinging onto him," he sounds like he is advising me, and I look up at him with surprise. "Well, there's something I haven't told you, but promise you won't misunderstand."

"I'm already misunderstanding," he tongues his teeth and pushes his inner cheek with it, gazing at me without focusing on anything else around him when he seems to be in a pretty area. "Come on!"

"Alright! Tell me, I won't misunderstand," he says the words I want to hear without meaning them, but I still go ahead to not hide this from him. "Okay, so as you saw last night, I was talking with your dad, and I was thinking about maybe spending some time with him so that we can be away from my stepmom. So, I maybe...or I may have...you know—"

"Spill it!" he cannot stand the suspense anymore, so I gather up enough courage and tell him. "I invited him to go watch a movie at the cinema this Saturday..." I drop my eyes down to my food to not have to see his reaction, but he does not say anything, does not make a sound.

Keeping it a secret would have caused some disappointment, but telling him about it was not the right thing to do either.

"So, basically, you asked him out?" he makes it sound wrong but exposes what this reflects. "No...it's just...between friends."

"Well, why not invite me then?" he expresses offense like I feared him to, and I become speechless. "Well...we often hang out together."

"And?" he asks for a better explanation, but I do not have anything to say, so I shrug. "Girl," he scoffs, releasing some tension. "I'm telling you. I'm gonna be there, right between you two, and I'm gonna be a wall that keeps you both away from each other. Alright?"

"I won't tell you what movie we're watching so you won't know," I laugh at the thought of this happening, but he acts like he does not care. "I'll follow you. Don't worry about tha— Wait," he suddenly shouts. "You're gonna be out with my dad, but what about me? Your mom will be back at your house, right? I have no plans for Saturday, but I'm not staying with this sick bitch!"

"Hang out with Seunggil, dummy," I find the solution, but he does not seem convinced. "No. He hung out with my apparently 'ex-girlfriend' and flirted with her behind my back, so I'm not talking to this betrayer anymore."

"He didn't flirt with me," I roll my eyes. "He helped me a lot, so stop being so jealous."

"I'm not jealous, I'm possessive," he tries to defend himself, but I eat some more and shake my head. "That's the same in the end."

"Not really," he disagrees and scrunches his nose to show it in a cute way, and I smile.

•••

5:40 pm.

The shopping time finally starting, I walk by Joonha's side but often look up at Mister Jeon who has my stepmother against him all the time. She has not stopped since I joined them in the car,  always touching him, trying hard to seduce him, and making a fool of herself while Mister Jeon seems to like it.

If only men were more focused on the personality than physical appearance.

'JUNGKOOK'S P.O.V'

"Maybe we could try to do it together, this could be interesting," she suggests after I broached the teachers' project topic, and I agree. "Yes, for sure."

"Dad," my son makes me turn around to check up on him, and he takes his cap off to fix his hair. "Can you come with me? I wanna talk about something."

"I'm coming," I nod and peek down at Harin to warn her. "I'll be back in a minute," I smile and move up to Joonha but cannot help glancing at y/n. Since I caught her staring again, she averts her eyes from me, and I hold back from smiling. I follow my son towards the department he wants to go to but feel like he lied to me. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Wait," he looks behind us as if he was checking on something and brings his phone up to type. So I attempt to not read over his shoulder but have a glance at the rings on his cap. "What are you doing, Joonha?"

"Did y/n really invite you to the cinema?" he raises his eyes up to me, and without understanding why, some nervousness takes over me. "She already told you?"

"Yeah, but you're gonna go with her and not let the snake join, right?" he does not express the feeling I would have expected him to, almost pushing me to go all alone with her. "I'll go with her only. That would be rude and disrespectful of me to bring Harin with me."

"Good," he checks his phone screen one more time, acting pretty impatient and remaining in this part of the store only. He texts someone in a fast manner, and I slide my hands in the pockets of my trousers. "You're not doing what I think you are, uh?" I suspect something. "I don't know what you think I'm doing?" he believes he can fool me that easily, but he ignores my question. "Stay here, I gotta pee," he leaves me with no better excuse, but since I know why he did this, I turn around to go back to Harin but fall upon y/n as soon as I leave this aisle.

"Oh—" we almost bump into each other, Joonha's plan being a success. I knew it. "Joonha's not here?" she looks behind me, and I shake my head. "He said he had to pee. He's the one who told you to come here, didn't he?" I sigh, and she exposes him. "Yeah..."

"He's such a kid," I uncontrollably chuckle but feel soft at the sight of her smile. "Does that mean Harin is alone now though?"

She nods but does not show any pity as if it did not matter to her. For some reason, seeing her in this oversized soft jacket makes me want to hug her. "Aren't you going back to her?"

She purses her lips and shakes her head, looking adorable. "However, now that I'm here, can I ask you a question?" she holds her phone with both hands, and I let her do it. "Does the cinema thing makes you uncomfortable?"

"Of course not, why would you think that?" I frown and make sure she knows this is not the case. "I don't know...because you might think it's weird to invite you and no one else..."

"It's not weird, stop overthinking so much," I smile and reassure her, and she shows some peace of mind. No matter how much I love being with her, the thought of Harin being left alone is bothering me a lot, so I need to look for her. "We should go back to your mom. She must be looking for us," I take my phone out and move forth to walk away but notice she is not following, so I turn around to take a look at what she is doing and see her staying still.

"Come with me. Don't stay here without anyone," I stretch my empty hand out to her, but she astonishes me by refusing. "I'm waiting for Joonha..."

"I'll tell him where we are," I do not take this as an answer but insist. "Come," I gesture her to take my hand and do as told, and she complies, not rebuffing me anymore. She wraps her hand around mine, and in order to offer her some safety and comfort that I need her to feel to go a bit further, I slide my fingers between her smaller ones and intertwine our hands, feeling how reluctant she is to go back to her stepmother.

"Why don't you want to be near her?" I lower my voice and brush my thumb over her skin so that she can let go and confess, and I discern all the emotions I am spreading through her with this affectionate physical contact. She shrugs, not ready enough to talk about this part of her personal life.

My eyes not leaving her as we are heading back to where we came from, I feel her hand slip away from mine, and she glances down. "Jungkook, I thought I lost you both," Harin's voice explains everything before I could even ask y/n what is wrong, and I put a smile on my face to answer. "Joonha needed to go to the restroom, I'm sorry."

"It's fine, don't worry," she does not express any anger about it, and I peek at my left to check up on y/n but realize she left without making a noise.

This is affecting me a lot, and I do not even know what to do about it. I have no power over this which makes me feel utterly useless.

"Can you come and look at something with me? I need your advices," she asks for me again, and out of weakness, I agree to follow her but text y/n.

[ I asked you to stay with me, why did you leave without saying anything? I want you near me >

I send this but feel horrible for the last sentence that I know will emotionally affect her. This is not a lie, so I am not hating myself for those words, but I should not frame it that way when I know what she feels.

"Here it is," Harin gets me to raise my head up, but once I come across the side of the mall she brought me to, I feel some surprise. "As a man, what do you think about this one?" she holds the very revealing nightie in front of her body. "Do you think it would look good on me? Or is it too much?"

I look her up and down but cannot think much about it once I feel my phone vibrate. "It would look great. I don't think that would be too much since this type of clothing is for home so no one else but you or the man you're with sees it."

"Hm," she has another look and turns towards the mirror near us, so I take this short moment to read the text I cannot wait to put my eyes on.

This is from Joonha, not what I expected.

< I'm going back home with y/n so don't look for us ]